Chitinous Scaffolds from Marine Sponges for Tissue Engineering

Chitin as a biological material which has been identified in skeletal structures of a broad variety of unicellular (yeast, protists, diatoms) and multicellular (sponges, corals, worms, molluscs, arthropods) organisms is recognized as natural template with good perspectives in modern biomedicine. This chapter provides first insights into prospective applications of naturally prefabricated three-dimensional chitinous scaffolds from selected marine sponges in tissue engineering. This became possible only owing to the recent discovery of poriferan chitin which provoked renewed multidisciplinary interest driven by growing demand in novel biomimetic materials. Here, we focused on both demosponges of Verongiida order as a renewable source of chitin scaffolds with jewelry designs, and human mesenchymal stromal cells having high therapeutic potential. The chapter covers approaches for isolation of scaffolds from the chitin-bearing marine sponges, nuances of their interaction with human cells and cryopreservation potential.